Retirement Plans Newsletter |
|
|
| August 25, 2009 \ Compliance \ Costs \ Administration \ Design \ Policy | ||
ASC and the ASC Institute (Advert.)
Create all your Safe Harbor notices in one day with the DGEM system! ASCi’s Automated Document System (DGEM) automatically finds all your Safe Harbor plans, then simultaneously produces the notices with their pre-populated cover letters, eliminating the hassle of mail merges! See how in this one minute video. |
[Guidance Overview]
Correcting the Failure to Provide the Safe Harbor 401(k) Notice - Has the IRS Adopted the 'No Harm, No Foul' Rule?
Excerpt: "Despite the fact that the IRS has declined to add a recommended method of correction to EPCRS for a failure to provide a safe harbor notice, the IRS recently provided a suggested method of correction in its Fall 2008 Retirement News for Employers newsletter." (SunGard Relius)
[Guidance Overview]
Surviving Spouse Could Roll Over Proceeds of Decedent's IRA Into Her Own IRA Because Decedent's IRA Was Not Inherited IRA
Excerpt: "As sole trustee, the surviving spouse had dominion and control over the entire trust's assets. The surviving spouse, as trustee, proposed to demand a single distribution from the decedent's IRA and to allocate the proceeds to the required subtrust. She then intended to withdraw the IRA proceeds from the subtrust and roll the proceeds over into her own IRA within 60 days of the distribution from the decedent's IRA to the trust." (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
[Guidance Overview]
ERISA Section 404(c) Bars Fiduciary Liability Claims Against Trustee for Losses Caused by Participants' Investment Advisor
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: While the unusual facts may limit the impact of this case, it does demonstrate the potential benefits of an effective ERISA Section 404(c) defense. It also illustrates a fine point of the case law regarding the general fiduciary obligation to provide truthful information to participants. As in this case, in the context of plan changes, most courts impose a duty to disclose changes only when they are under serious consideration, and then only to persons who inquire." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
The U.S. Recession and Its Impact on Employee Retirement
Excerpt: "This SHRM Poll provides data on approaches that companies plan to take in terms of employee retirement options. Employee confidence in the current state of their retirement savings is also explored. Nearly a third of respondents believe the biggest threats to retirement savings are that employees are simply not saving enough and the overall instability of the financial markets. " (Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM))
CalPERS Sues Over California State Employee Furloughs
Excerpt: "CalPERS is suing California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over his state-imposed furloughs, claiming that the mandated three days of unpaid time off from work each month compromises the pension fund's ability to meet its contractual obligations." (Workforce Management)
San Diego County Approves $1.4M Comp Plan for Outside Investment Consultant
Excerpt: "The pay package amounts to almost six times what the association's previous chief investment officer, David Deutsch earned ($209,000 a year) and surpasses what top officials at the state's largest public pension funds are paid, according to the [San Diego Union Tribune newspaper]." (PLANSPONSOR)
Mercer Suggests Retirement Sponsors Prepare in Case Contribution or Benefits Limitations Decrease
Excerpt: "Mercer points out that depending on inflation levels for August and September 2009, the statutory formula used for calculating limits on elective deferrals, catch-up contributions, plan compensation, Code Section 415 annual additions and maximum defined benefit (DB) annuities, and compensation amounts for identifying highly compensated and key employees could produce lower figures in 2010 relative to 2009." (PLANSPONSOR)
GAO Report: Private Pensions: Alternative Approaches Could Address Retirement Risks Faced by Workers but Pose Trade-Offs
77 pages. Excerpt: "U.S. workers face a number of risks in both accumulating and preserving pension benefits. Specifically, workers may not accumulate sufficient retirement income because they are not covered by a defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) pension plan. For example, according to national survey data, about half of the workforce was not covered by a pension plan in 2008. Furthermore, workers covered by DC plans, in particular, risk making inadequate contributions or earning poor investment returns, while workers with traditional DB plans risk future benefit losses due to a lack of portability if they change jobs. Preretirement benefit withdrawals (leakage), high fees, and the inappropriate drawdown of benefits in retirement also introduce risks related to preserving benefits, especially for workers with DC plans.' 'Highlights' page is at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d09642high.pdf (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Fees Can Drain Your 401(k) Retirement Savings
Excerpt: "How much are 401(k) fees removing from your retirement nest egg each year? If you are either unaware of such fees or don't know their amounts, don't worry: Nearly 83% of Americans don't know, either, according to AARP." (USA TODAY)
Pennsylvania Public Pension Funding and Administrative Cost Crisis Foretold
Excerpt: "Pennsylvania has four times more pension funds than any other state, and more than one-fourth of all the municipal pension plans in the country, according to the Public Employee Retirement Commission, an agency that advises the Legislature on pension issues and oversees the soundness of local plans. The number of local plans is growing by about 30 a year. Most of the 3,100 retirement systems, for police, firefighters or nonuniformed workers, are small. That's costly for members and taxpayers. Of 2,462 that reported administrative expenses, the cost was $36 million, or $509 annually per member. The cost per member is $1,519 for administrative expenses for plans with fewer than 10 members, the retirement commission says, and 67 percent of Pennsylvania's local pension systems are that small." (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
ASPPA (Advert.)
Attention all Retirement Plan Professionals! The 2009 ASPPA Annual Conference (November 1 – 4) is bigger and better than ever. Join 1,600 of your peers at the exquisite Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center on the historic Potomac River. Take advantage of over 60 interactive workshops presented by nationally renowned experts and top practitioners from all facets of the retirement plan industry, including representatives from the IRS and DOL. Advance your knowledge. Enhance your credibility. Expand your network of like-minded professionals! This is the industry’s top venue for all retirement plan professionals - - with up to 24 hours of ASPPA CE credit, ERPA CPE credit and core/non-core JBEA credit hours for Enrolled Actuaries, including professionalism credits. In this rapidly changing environment, it’s never been more important to attend. Register today and stay at the top of your game! |
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
[Guidance Overview]Compensation Guidance for TARP Companies
Excerpt: "Figure 1 attempts to cull the 123 pages of regulations to a digestible format, comparing previous legislation or public statements to the regulations." (Watson Wyatt)
[Guidance Overview]
SEC Takes Expansive View of Sarbanes-Oxley Provision, Seeks Clawback from CEO
Excerpt: "A Sarbanes-Oxley Act case filed by the SEC seeks to have a former CEO reimburse bonuses and stock sales profits received while his company was allegedly committing accounting fraud, even though the executive himself is not accused of misconduct." (Mercer)
[Guidance Overview]
409A Failures: Correcting With and Without Notice 2008-113 (PDF)
24 pages. Excerpt: "Deferred compensation plans under section 409A are minefields of potential mistakes. Tax penalties for plan failures are harsh. This report explores how to correct failures in plan operation, both with and without the IRS program in Notice 2008-113. First, in Part One, we detail how to correct failures 'by the book' under the notice, and point out some tax surprises hidden within it. In Part Two, we explore how to correct failures when the notice's program is unavailable. We suspect these will be legion. The IRS might not think that correction outside the notice is permitted. If this is their view, we do not agree." (Attorneys Rosina B. Barker and Kevin P. O'Brien of Ivins, Phillips & Barker; published by Tax Notes and reprinted by permission to the authors)
Court Approval Ends Last Backdating Suit Against UnitedHealth
Excerpt: "Among other charges, the suit settled by the last order had included allegations the backdating practices left the company's stock artificially inflated and that the retirement plan lost significant assets when the UnitedHealth share price declined." (PLANSPONSOR)
Results of On-Line Survey of 80 State and Local Governments' Responses to the Recession (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "More than 70 percent of the jurisdictions are putting a freeze on hiring. Fifty-six percent are freezing pay. Almost half are reducing their workforce. Almost one third are freezing pay and instituting a reduction in force. About one quarter are implementing a pay freeze and requiring employees to pay a larger share of benefits." (The Segal Group, Inc.)
Webcasts and Conferences
11th Annual Best Practices Conferencein Massachusetts on December 9, 2009
presented by New England Employee Benefits Council
New HIPAA Breach Notification Rules: Get Ready for a Quick Effective Date
Nationwide on September 9, 2009
presented by EBIA / Thomson Reuters
(Click to post your webcast or conference)
Press Releases
Employers Altering Pension Plan Policies, Shaking Up Fund Managers, Watson Wyatt Survey FindsWatson Wyatt
Segal Comments on Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board
The Segal Company
Trustee of Somerset, Pennsylvania, Profit Sharing Plan Ordered to Cooperate with U.S. Labor Department Investigation
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
Employers Face 10.5 Percent Health Care Cost Increases, Says Aon Consulting
Aon Consulting
New Venture and Strategic Alliance with Credit Forgetit, Inc. Launching New Product for VEBA
Two Bridge Debt Resolutions
(Click to post your press release)
Employee Benefits Jobs
Partner Relationship Associatefor Decimal, Inc. (www.theonline401k.com)
in CA
Operations/Office Manager:
for ClearPoint Financial
in WA
Employee Benefits Supervisor
for Automobile Club of Southern California
in CA
(Click to post your job opening | View all jobs |
RSS feed of all jobs )
EmployeeBenefitsJobs.com (Sponsor)
(Click on banner to learn more.)
| Where the best employers find the best candidates! |
Handy Links:
- View Today's Active Message Threads
- Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research (hypertext article)
- Employee Benefits Library
Subscribe to the BenefitsLink Health & Welfare Plans Newsletter, Too!
Sign-up form is at https://benefitslink.com/newsletter (free).
This email has been published by:
BenefitsLink.com, Inc.
1298 Minnesota Avenue, Suite H
Winter Park FL 32789
(407) 644-4146
Fax: (407) 644-2151
David Rhett Baker, J.D., Editor
Copyright 2009 BenefitsLink.com, Inc.; except that you can forward this email in full (including this boilerplate part) or otherwise reprint this email in full (including this boilerplate part) without obtaining our permission.
Anyone can receive these emails; just have them sign up at this web page: https://benefitslink.com/newsletter/
Other useful links: